Lifelong Exercise Key To Lasting Brain Power

“It appears that intensive exercise may offer benefits for brain functioning in later life over and above those resulting from regular yet less intense exercise,” says researcher Alex Dregan. (Credit: Ian Hunter/Flickr)

The good news (if you’ve been exercising at least once a week for your entire life) is that lifelong exercise appears to be closely associated with greater cognitive function later in life. The bad news (if you have not) is that lifelong exercise appears to be closely associated with greater cognitive function later in life. When researchers at King’s College of London studied data about the levels of exercise between the ages of 11 and 50 in more than 9,000 people, then tested the memory and executive function of all people surveyed, they found that those who exercised weekly as a child and as an adult performed better on tests of memory, learning, attention and reasoning at the age of 50 than those who exercised two to three times per month or less. Too much to remember? Read it here from King’s College.